State constitution

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A state constitution is the governing document of a U.S. state, comparable to the United States Constitution which is the governing document of the United States. Some states have had multiple constitutions and since each state drafts its own, there is great diversity between them, though all have some basic concepts in common.[1]

The average length of a state constitution is about 39,000 words (compared to 7,591 words for the U.S. Constitution including its amendments). The longest state governing document is that of Alabama, which has approximately 389,000 words. That document is also the most amended state constitution in the Union, with nearly 950 amendments as. The average state constitution has been amended about 115 times. The oldest state constitution still in effect is that of Massachusetts, which took effect in 1780. The newest is the Rhode Island Constitution, which was ratified by voters in 1986 after a constitutional convention was held which proposed deleting superseded language and reorganizing the state's 1843 Constitution. The Georgia Constitution is the next youngest and was ratified in 1983.[2][3]

List of state constitutions

Name Number of constitutions Year current version adopted
Alabama Constitution 7 2022
Alaska Constitution 1 1959
Arizona Constitution 1 1912
Arkansas Constitution 4 1874
California Constitution 2 1880
Colorado Constitution 1 1876
Connecticut Constitution 2 1965
Delaware Constitution 4 1897
Florida Constitution 6[4] 1969
Georgia Constitution 9 1983
Hawaii Constitution 1 1959
Idaho Constitution 1 1890
Illinois Constitution 4 1971
Indiana Constitution 2 1851
Iowa Constitution 2 1857
Kansas Constitution 4 1861
Kentucky Constitution 4 1891
Louisiana Constitution 11 1975
Maine Constitution 1 1820
Maryland Constitution 4 1867
Massachusetts Constitution 1 1780
Michigan Constitution 4 1964
Minnesota Constitution 1 1858
Mississippi Constitution 4 1890
Missouri Constitution 4 1945
Montana Constitution 2 1973
Nebraska Constitution 2 1875
Nevada Constitution 1 1864
New Hampshire Constitution 3 1793
New Jersey Constitution 3 1948
New Mexico Constitution 1 1912
New York Constitution 4 1895
North Carolina Constitution 4 1971
North Dakota Constitution 1 1889
Ohio Constitution 2 1851
Oklahoma Constitution 1 1907
Oregon Constitution 1 1859
Pennsylvania Constitution 5 1968
Rhode Island Constitution 2 1986
South Carolina Constitution 6 1896
South Dakota Constitution 1 1889
Tennessee Constitution 3 1870
Texas Constitution 4 1876
Utah Constitution 1 1896
Vermont Constitution 1 1793
Virginia Constitution 7 1971
Washington State Constitution 1 1889
West Virginia Constitution 1 1872
Wisconsin Constitution 1 1848
Wyoming Constitution 1 1890


External links

Footnotes

  1. The Green Papers, "The Green Papers: Constitutions of the Several states," accessed June 1, 2012
  2. The Green Papers, "The Green Papers: Constitutions of the Several states," accessed June 1, 2012
  3. National Conference of State Legislatures, "Your State's Constitution - The People's Document," accessed June 22, 2019
  4. This includes the changes made to the state constitution in 1861 along with the Ordinance of Succession. This set of changes in 1861 has both been counted and not counted as a separate constitution by different sources.